Ramses & The Gold of the Pharaohs [Explore]

The Ramses exhibition had sold more than 100,000 tickets before it opened this week in Sydney, such is interest in ancient Egypt. It's a collection of 181 antiquities featuring Ramses II, the New Kingdom pharoah who reigned from 1279 to 1213 BC and built Abu Simbel (check out my Egypt album).

 

The pieces are all highlights in excellent condition including Ramses' cedar coffin, gold death masks and jewellery, animal mummies and sarcophagi.

 

Illustrations on Sennedjem's spectacular outer coffin show his journey to the afterlife, against a background that provides an experience similar to stepping into actual tombs.

 

Sennedjem lived in the Valley of the Kings' worker city of Deir el-Medina during the 19th Dynasty, under the reign of Pharaoh Sethy I and the first years of Ramses II. Sennedjem's title 'servant in the place of truth' was the same as others taking care of the royal tombs, and he seems to have been a mason. At least 20 people and three generations of his family were found in the tomb TT1 which was discovered in 1886. It's not known how a mason came to have such a splendid tomb, unless his family was connected with the priesthood.

 

The exhibition's videos of Ramses' age projections and mummy, and the Tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens interact well. It took me about an hour and a half to go through. Adult tickets are $43, and there's a separate 11-minute virtual reality experience (which I didn't do) of Nefertari's tomb and Abu Simbel which is $30.

 

Also, thank you for 20 million views - milestone passed 22 November 2023. The stats just got more detailed today too, but they don't generate an attractive photo!

Done